The Secret Gardens of Your Favorite Skin-Care Brands

Once, the making of natural beauty products might have conjured images of granola and patchouli-littered formica tables. A lot has changed since those days: The landscape has become progressively refined and sophisticated, populated by true alchemists and visionaries.
For the elite members of the group, the formulation process is a sensory, tactile journey of trial and error with roots in inspiration, intuition, and experimentation. Like any artist, a skin-care alchemist needs the appropriate environment for creativity and innovation to flourish. For some, that means bright apothecaries and studios where—amidst mason jars of handpicked herbs and stopped beakers of fragrant essential oils—creators can mix delightful concoctions with a set of mortar and pestle and a dropper. For others, the process means growing a flourishing garden from which pure, heavenly scented ingredients and powerful medicinal plants may be plucked at leisure. Either way, keeping ingredients close, in a sacred space, is the standard for both quality control and inspiration. “When I entered this industry, I was so surprised by how much is outsourced, especially the formulas and batching of the products,” says natural luxury skin-care pioneer Tata Harper. “This is the most important piece, so we couldn’t just pass it off to someone else.” Here, five natural skin-care innovators offer us a glimpse at their inspiring workshops and bucolic grounds, and dish about the key role their environments play in their final products.

Origin Story: After learning about the powerful benefits of plants, founder Laurel Shaffer—a onetime sommelier—studied herbal medicine at the California School of Herbal Studies. In 2014, she took that knowledge of plant chemistry and luxury products, and created her plant-based skin-care line.

All About: Unique formulations created with close to 100 percent whole plant organic ingredients without synthetic nutrients, fillers, water, or emulsifiers.

The Digs: “Our space is so magical!” Shaffer says. “It’s a two-sided apothecary: One side is very much like a kitchen [with] plants, beakers, and oils everywhere. It’s always buzzing with energy while products are being made. The second side is more tranquil. There, we offer facials and share skin-care stories over tea. All of the furniture is custom-made for us by local artisans from reclaimed wood and repurposed metal.”

Favorite Things: “I really love the wall that divides the apothecary,” she says. “It’s about 30 feet in length and was made for us by two local artists out of reclaimed redwood. We have covered the wall with photography of the plants that we use in our products for inspiration.”

Why This Space: “I couldn’t imagine not being surrounded by our ingredients! We have new, fresh and vibrant ingredients coming in each week from farms around the world. As silly as it may sound to some, plants definitely speak to you. It’s so helpful to have a library of plant chemistry books, but the loudest voice of inspiration always comes from the plant itself.” In late summer and early fall, the apothecary is brimming with plants including Shaffer’s current favorites like whole rose hip fruits, marshmallow roots, and calendula flowers.

Latest Launches: Shaffer’s Oily/Combo Elixir with chamomile hydrosols grown specifically for the brand by a small Oregon farm collective.

Origin Story: Cofounder Sarah Buscho started experimenting with her own natural skin care as a child struggling with eczema. She met her business partner, Marina Storm, while training as a certified herbalist. The two began creating health- and environmentally-conscious products, and in 2012, launched their cult favorite line, Earth Tu Face.

All About: Natural, organic, and food-grade ingredients that don't include fillers, but feature shelf stable cold pressed oils and essential oils that naturally preserve. Each California-made product is packed in American-made packaging that is recyclable or compostable.

The Digs: “We have a garden where we grow some of our product ingredients, seasonally,” says Buscho. “For example, we grow roses and harvest the rose petals and dry them, crush them, and use them in our two face masks (the Honey + Coconut mask and the Exfoliant mask). We have an apothecary where we make about half of our line, as well as seasonal products, such as Vanilla Peppermint Lip Balm, which we now try to stock year round. We also hold special events and classes there and make unique products to order such as perfumes, serums, lotions, herbal baths, and liqueurs.”

Favorite Things: “I love the original bar where we make our products and the floor-to-ceiling shelves where we have our dried herbs, essences, and oils,” she muses. “Built in 1898, the original structure and old wood have a lot character and feel very grounded and earthy. [The bar] feels witchy! Something is alway tittering on an edge, boiling over, or crumbling. It smells amazing in there.”

Why This Space: “This is where I’m most creative; the natural world is my greatest inspiration,” says Buscho. “Having the garden keeps us close to the source of our inspiration, the soil, the earth, and nature. I can constantly experiment with our ingredients, so that our line is expanded continuously. I think we are the most lean, mean, and green full skin-care line out there right now in terms of the products, packaging, and sourcing.” The ladies also harvest lavender buds and calendula flowers, which are incorporated into masks.

Latest Launches: The duo just launched their four-product mass line, COSMOS Botanicals, in Urban Outfitters, which is designed as a comprehensive facial skin-care routine: hydrating serum for day/night, cleanser, toner, and healing balm.

Origin Story: Founder Barbara Close is an expert in esthetics, advanced massage, aromatherapy, and has her master’s degree in therapeutic herbalism. In 1995, she opened her original Naturopathica East Hampton Healing Arts Center & Spa. There, she began tinkering with products to make wellness more accessible. In 2016, she opened her Chelsea location in Manhattan.

All About: Working with the skin’s natural processes using proven naturals and clean cosmeceuticals to address inflammation, the leading cause of premature aging.

The Digs: “As an herbalist, my garden is my laboratory and think tank, planted with therapeutic herbs that inspire my creative muse,” says Close. “In the center of my garden is a chicken coop that’s been refurbished as my workshop for warmer months. It’s cheerful and sunny, accented with eclectic items that inspire me. Just yesterday, I spotted an elderberry bush on the edge of a nearby field and was able to harvest the berries. I brought them back to the coop and made an elderberry syrup, great for coughs and respiratory congestion. Right now, I’m making remedies for my personal home remedy chest to stay healthy through the winter months.”

Favorite Things: “I keep my reference library in the coop, which ranges from phytotherapy textbooks and periodicals to obscure herbal compendiums and old monographs from botanical libraries,” she says. “I also love to collect old apothecary packaging—liniments, smelling salts, pine tar salves. There’s also a lot of weird stuff I find on hikes: dried bugs, bird nests, dried milkweed, scraps of birch bark."

Why This Space: “Many of my favorite herbal and botanical extracts for natural healing are grown in my garden. In the summer, I infuse calendula to make skin salves or body oils. Come fall, I harvest my echinacea roots to support immune health or horseradish to make a 'fire cider' to combat colds and flus. I have many plants I use for herbal teas: lemon balm for anxiety, peppermint for digestion, verbena and skullcap for sleep. We just introduced four Remedy teas that I developed last summer by combining herbs from my garden with aromatic spices.”

Origin Story: In 1985, Jurgen and Ulrike Klein (a German couple—biochemist and botanist respectively), traveled to Australia in search of land to grow herbs and botanicals for the pure skin-care line they envisioned.

All About: Skin-care made from potent botanicals, grown on-site (a farm open for visitors).

The Digs: “The Jurlique farm is certified biodynamic and follows the principles, consider[ing] the soil a living organism,” explains Sara LaBree, Jurlique’s educational manager. “Our practices are holistic, honest and pure: from tilling the soil to nurturing potent plants to crafting the final product. We tend, pick, and sort all of our crops by hand.”

Of Note: “We have a kangaroo sanctuary with wild kangaroos and their cute baby joeys!”

Why This Space: “Having our own farm and owning our manufacturing down the road allows us to oversee the entire process from ‘seed to skin,’” she says. “After we harvest and dry our farm-grown ingredients, we capture their vital life-force using a pure extraction method unique to Jurlique called the Bio-Intrinsic process.” The farm’s signature hydrating and balancing marshmallow root is used in more than 70 Jurlique products.

Origin Story: When cofounder Tata Harper’s stepfather was diagnosed with cancer, she switched to organic and natural household and personal products, but she couldn’t find a beauty line that was both natural and effective enough. In 2010, she launched her now lauded eponymous line, which remains 100 percent natural and made fresh on her farm from ingredients grown there or sourced from 48 different countries.

All About: The most advanced natural technology and high-performing ingredients.

The Digs: “Our garden and greenhouse are very Vermont: simple, utilitarian, but they feel very welcoming and lived-in,” says Harper. “There we grow, harvest, dry, and macerate the ingredients for our Estate Grown Beauty Complex. Then, they’re taken to our lab and manufacturing facilities, which are in big red converted dairy barns on the other side of the property. It’s all very picturesque.”

Favorite Things: “The whole farm is so beautiful and inspirational for me,” she says. “I love the garden where I play with my kids, the forests around us, and the river. I think my favorite thing is the view of the pink sunsets over the Adirondacks; they’re gorgeous and very dramatic.”

Why This Space: “It was so important for us to own our own manufacturing and be totally vertically integrated because it allows us to really control quality. Growing our own ingredients lets us choose the best varieties and start them from the seed, so we know they’re truly grown organically.” The farm harvests anti-inflammatory arnica, oxygenating alfalfa, cell turnover stimulating meadowsweet, and soothing calendula, to name a few.